TASI starts slightly lower as investors watch the market: Opening bell
Updated 19 July 2022
Aqila Alasaeed
RIYADH: Saudi stocks started Tuesday slightly lower as investors kept an eye on the market in the face of high oil prices and inflation.
Saudi Arabia’s main index, TASI, started 0.16 percent lower at 11,537, while the parallel market, Nomu, opened almost flat at 20,708, as of 10:08 a.m. Saudi time
This was led by a 0.65 decrease in Saudi oil giant Aramco, and 0.87 percent decline in Saudi National Bank, one of the Kingdom’s biggest lenders,
Almasane Alkobra Mining Co. surged 7.28 percent, on news that it is seeking to raise capital by SR240 million ($64 million) through issuing bonus shares.
Almunajem Foods soared 10 percent, after reporting a profit surge of 225 percent in the first half of 2022.
Leading the fallers was Arabia Insurance Cooperative Co. with a 4.39 percent decline, followed by Anaam International Holding Group shedding 1.62 percent.
In energy trading, Brent crude settled at $106.90 a barrel and US West Texas Intermediate reached $103.33 a barrel, as of 10:23 a.m. Saudi time.
Saudi minister at Davos urges collaboration on minerals
The reason of the tension of geopolitics is actually the criticality of the minerals
Updated 51 min 44 sec ago
Arab News
LONDON: Countries need to collaborate on mining and resources to help avoid geopolitical tensions, Saudi Arabia’s minister of industry and mineral resources told the World Economic Forum on Tuesday.
“The reason of the tension of geopolitics is actually the criticality of the minerals, the concentration in different areas of the world,” Bandar Alkhorayef told a panel discussion on the geopolitics of materials.
“The rational thing to do is to collaborate, and that’s what we are doing,” he added. “We are creating a platform of collaboration in Saudi Arabia.”
Bandar Alkhorayef, Saudi Minister of Industry and Mineral Resources
The Kingdom last week hosted the Future Minerals Forum in Riyadh. Alkhorayef said the platform was launched by the government in 2022 as a contribution to the global community. “It’s very important to have a global movement, and that’s why we launched the Future Minerals Forum,” he said. “It is the most important platform of global mining leaders.”
The Kingdom has made mining one of the key pillars of its economy, rapidly expanding the sector under the Vision 2030 reform program with an eye on diversification. Saudi Arabia has an estimated $2.5 trillion in mineral wealth and the ramping up of extraction comes at a time of intense global competition for resources to drive technological development in areas like AI and renewables.
“We realized that unlocking the value that we have in our natural resources, of the different minerals that we have, will definitely help our economy to grow to diversify,” Alkhorayef said. The Kingdom has worked to reduce the timelines required to set up mines while also protecting local communities, he added. Obtaining mining permits in Saudi Arabia has been reduced to just 30 to 90 days compared to the many years required in other countries, Alkhorayef said.
“We learned very, very early that permitting is a bottleneck in the system,” he added. “We all know, and we have to be very, very frank about this, that mining doesn’t have a good reputation globally.
“We are trying to change this and cutting down the licensing process doesn’t only solve it. You need also to show the communities the impact of the mining on their lives.”
Saudi Arabia’s new mining investment laws have placed great emphasis on the development of society and local communities, along with protecting the environment and incorporating new technologies, Alkhorayef said. “We want to build the future mines; we don’t want to build old mines.”
